Manhwa Like Villains Are Destined to Die: 6 Picks Ranked

Looking for manhwa like Villains Are Destined to Die? If you finished it (also called Death Is the Only Ending for the Villainess) and want more reincarnated heroines outscheming a world that wants them dead, the good news is the genre is deep. The harder question is which ones actually share what made Penelope's story work, and which just wear the same costume.

TL;DR: The closest manhwa like Villains Are Destined to Die is Raeliana, another reincarnated side character who survives on plot knowledge. After that: Who Made Me a Princess and I Am the Real One for the reincarnated-villainess core, Beware the Villainess for a comedic subversion of the same setup, Doctor Elise for a redemption spin, and The Remarried Empress for the wronged-noblewoman court romance. Ranked below by how close the fit really is.

Manhwa like Villains Are Destined to Die: the short list

Ranked by how closely each matches what makes Villains Are Destined to Die tick, a reincarnated heroine treating survival as a calculated problem:

1. Raeliana (Tappytoon) - the closest fit: reincarnated side character survives on plot knowledge
2. Who Made Me a Princess (WEBTOON) - reincarnated as the princess fated to die at her father's hand
3. I Am the Real One (WEBTOON) - villainess isekai where the heroine was never the impostor
4. Beware the Villainess (Tapas, complete) - the comedic subversion: a villainess who rejects the script entirely
5. Doctor Elise (Tappytoon) - the redemption spin: a villainess empress reborn to do it right
6. The Remarried Empress (WEBTOON) - no isekai, but the wronged-noblewoman court romance core

The rest of this list explains why each earns its spot, and who each one is actually for.

1. Raeliana: the closest match

If you want the same engine, start here. In The Reason Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion, Eunha Park dies and wakes as Raeliana McMillan, a minor character in a novel she read, one who is fated to be murdered by her own fiance. Like Penelope, she knows the script, and like Penelope, she refuses to follow it.

What makes this the closest fit to Villains Are Destined to Die is the survival-as-strategy framing. Raeliana strikes a deal with Duke Noah Volstaire Wynknight, becoming his fake fiancee in exchange for keeping a politically explosive secret she knows from the original novel. The romance grows out of a negotiation where both parties are calculating, exactly the dynamic that gives Penelope's relationships their edge. It is completed at 158 chapters, so you get a full arc.

If you read Villains for the scheming more than the swooning, Raeliana is the one to read next. Our full Raeliana review breaks down why the information-leverage premise works.

Raeliana is the closest fit on this list: a reincarnated side character who survives by using what she knows about the original story against the people trying to kill her.

For the original that started this list, with its visible affection meters and hard-mode death stakes, see our .

Villains Are Destined to Die review

2. Who Made Me a Princess

Athanasia is reincarnated as a princess in a novel, specifically the daughter the emperor Claude kills in the original story. Her survival problem is sharper and more personal than most: the person fated to end her is her own father, the most powerful man in the empire.

Where Villains Are Destined to Die makes its stakes a game UI, Who Made Me a Princess makes them a relationship. Athanasia has to survive by changing how one terrifying man feels about her, and the series is at its best tracking that slow, fraught shift. It is warmer and more emotional than Penelope's story, with gorgeous art, but the core is the same: a reincarnated heroine rewriting a death sentence she read in advance. See our Who Made Me a Princess review for the full rating.

3. I Am the Real One

This one leans into the villainess-isekai framing with a twist: the heroine is reincarnated into the role of the impostor, except she was never the impostor at all. The setup plays with the genre's identity politics, the question of who really belongs and who is the fake, and turns it into the engine of the plot.

For Villains fans, the appeal is the same proactive heroine navigating a court that has already decided she is the problem. It is completed at 160 chapters, free on WEBTOON, and a clean binge if you want a finished story. The I Am the Real One review covers where it lands.

4. Beware the Villainess: the subversion

Everything above plays the premise relatively straight. Beware the Villainess does the opposite, and that is exactly why it belongs here. A burned-out Korean college student dies and wakes as Melissa Foddebrat, the villainess of a cliche romance novel that reads suspiciously like an otome game, complete with a saintly commoner heroine and four conquerable male leads.

Melissa's response is to not care at all. She rejects the entire script, breaks her engagement to the philandering prince, and refuses to play the role the story assigned her. Where Penelope works the affection meters to survive, Melissa flips the table on the meters entirely. If you liked Villains Are Destined to Die but want a version that mocks the genre's conventions instead of dramatizing them, this is the palate cleanser.

For the full ranked field of proactive-heroine titles across this whole genre, see our list.

best villainess manhwa 2026

5. Doctor Elise: the redemption spin

Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady with the Lamp runs the villainess premise backward. Elise was a spoiled, hot-headed empress whose people rebelled and executed her. She reincarnated in the modern world as Song Jihyun, became an elite surgeon, then died again and woke back up as Princess Elise, with the medical knowledge of a master and a chance to atone.

The connection to Villains Are Destined to Die is the reincarnated villainess given a second shot at a fate she already knows ends badly. The difference is tone: this is redemption and competence-porn rather than survival horror, watching Elise heal an ailing empire with skills nobody around her can match. It is completed across 156 chapters plus a sequel, so the arc resolves.

6. The Remarried Empress

The outlier, and worth it. The Remarried Empress has no isekai and no game mechanic. What it has is the wronged-noblewoman-fights-back core that pulls the exact same readers. Navier spent her life as the perfect empress beside Emperor Sovieshu, until he brought home a mistress and demanded a divorce. Navier accepts, and immediately remarries Prince Heinrey of a rival kingdom, keeping her crown by becoming someone else's empress.

It is included because the appeal overlaps almost completely with Villains Are Destined to Die: a composed, strategic heroine navigating a hostile court, refusing to be a victim, and outmaneuvering everyone who wrote her off. The webtoon concluded its seven-year run in 2026, so the full story is readable start to finish. If you want the political-intrigue strengths of Penelope's story without the game framing, this is the prestige pick.

Quick reference

Related Reading

• Villains Are Destined to Die review: The source of this list, with its hard-mode affection-meter premise explained.
• Best villainess manhwa 2026: The full ranked field, including every pick here and more.
• Raeliana review: The closest match on this list, covered in depth.
• Best romance manhwa 2026: Broader romance picks for readers who want range beyond the villainess niche.
• Villains Are Destined to Die Reading Guide

Frequently Asked Questions

What manhwa is most like Villains Are Destined to Die?

Raeliana. A reincarnated side character marked for death who survives by using her knowledge of the original story against everyone around her, the same engine as Penelope's.

Are these all otome isekai?

Most are. The Remarried Empress is the exception: court romance with no isekai or game mechanic, but the same wronged-heroine-fights-back appeal.

Which are completed?

The Remarried Empress, Doctor Elise, Raeliana, Who Made Me a Princess, I Am the Real One, and Beware the Villainess (completed at 144 chapters) are all finished runs.

Where can I read them?

Tapas, Tappytoon, and WEBTOON in English depending on the series, mostly free with daily-pass systems.

Do I need to like romance?

Romance is present, but the draw is the proactive heroine and the strategy. If you liked Villains for the scheming, these lead with the same strength.

References

• Villains Are Destined to Die on Tapas
• The Remarried Empress concludes after 7-year run (Anime News Network)
• Doctor Elise on Tappytoon